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Bloomberg unveils Super Bowl ad focused on gun reform

The 60-second spot will cost the former New York mayor more than $10 million to air nationwide.

By QUINT FORGEY

Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg on Thursday released his campaign ad set to air during the Super Bowl — a 60-second spot focused entirely on gun violence.

The ad, which will cost the former New York mayor more than $10 million to broadcast nationwide on Sunday, tells the story of Calandrian Simpson Kemp, a Texas mother whose 20-year-old son, an aspiring professional football player named George, was shot and killed in September 2013 outside Houston.

“Lives are being lost every day. It is a national crisis,” Kemp says in the ad. “I heard Mike Bloomberg speak. He’s been in this fight for so long. He heard mothers crying, so he started fighting.”

Bloomberg has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years working to tackle gun reform, investing $112 million on 24 candidates in the 2018 midterm elections who supported gun control measures. Twenty-one of those candidates were victorious, helping swing control of the House majority to Democrats.

Last month, the billionaire businessman rolled out his presidential campaign’s gun control platform, which calls for stronger background checks and permit requirements. All Democratic White House hopefuls favor various gun reform proposals including universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons.

“When I heard Mike was stepping into the ring, I thought, ‘Now we have a dog in the fight,’” Kemp says in the ad. “I know Mike is not afraid of the gun lobby. They’re scared of him, and they should be.”

She concludes: “Mike’s fighting for every child. Because you have a right to live. No one has a right to take your hopes and dreams.”

The Super Bowl spot is notable in that it features no reference whatsoever to the president, despite Bloomberg frequently invoking Donald Trump by name in a historic advertising campaign that has blasted Trump's record on health care and reported disparagement of military leaders.

Trump has repeatedly expressed displeasure in the past month over Bloomberg’s decision to leverage his immense wealth to blanket television airwaves, including accusations from Trump that Bloomberg is skirting the Democratic primary debates for fear of embarrassing himself on stage.

Bloomberg’s latest gun violence ad will run in competition Sunday with an ad for Trump’s reelection campaign also priced at roughly $10 million.

“I chose to devote the entire sixty-second ad to gun safety because it matters to communities across the country and it will be a top priority for me as president,” Bloomberg said in a statement.

“Calandrian’s story is a powerful reminder of the urgency of this issue and the failure of Washington to address it,” he added. “People will be rooting for different teams in the Super Bowl, but virtually all Americans — including people in both parties and a majority of gun owners — support universal background checks and other common sense gun laws.”

Super Bowl commercials have traditionally been the realm of high-profile brands willing to spend millions on the most expensive advertising space of the year, making it unusual that two presidential campaigns will air ads during the game. Other Democratic candidates are expected to air Super Bowl commercials locally in Iowa ahead of Monday night’s first-in-the-nation caucuses.